The FCC’s consistently said for 42 years that radio has...

The FCC’s consistently said for 42 years that radio has a “limited role” in “original newsgathering and dissemination, particularly with respect to local news,” said representatives of companies seeking an end to newspaper/radio cross-ownership limits. “A number of commenters in addition to Bonneville/Scranton also have submitted serious, analytical arguments for lifting the newspaper/radio rule,” those two companies said in docket 09-182. “Those who apparently oppose any changes to the regulation have provided no specific discussion concerning newspaper/radio combinations.” There'd be “factual inconsistencies that would plague any effort to establish a ’top 20 market’ threshold for granting newspaper/radio regulatory relief,” lawyers for Bonneville International and Scranton Times LP reported telling Commissioner Ajit Pai (http://xrl.us/bndbh3). A rulemaking notice proposed ending limits on how many radio and TV stations can be jointly owned within a market, while allowing cross-ownership of daily papers and broadcasters in top markets under certain scenarios (CD Jan 20 p4).